Danny Zelisko Presents an evening with John Prine at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, December 14, 2018 at the historic Celebrity Theatre. Reserved seat tickets on sale at www.celebritytheatre.com.

Legendary singer, songwriter and performer John Prine will release his highly anticipated new album, The Tree of Forgiveness, April 13th on his own independent label, Oh Boy Records (pre-order now). Produced by Grammy Award-winning Dave Cobb, the album is Prine’s first featuring new material in over 13 years. In advance of the release, the song “Summer’s End” is premiering today.

In celebration of the album, Prine will embark on an extensive worldwide tour that will span throughout 2018. Every concert ticket sold will include a copy The Tree of Forgiveness (CD only) upon its release.

The landmark album and tour follow a noteworthy 2017, which included an “Artist of the Year” award at the Americana Music Honors & Awards and a Chicago/Midwest Regional Emmy Award for his “Chicago Voices” performance with Renée Fleming. Last year also saw the release of Prine’s debut book, John Prine Beyond Words, which includes a selection of favorites songs, photographs and stories from Prine’s beloved catalogue.

A two-time Grammy-winner, Prine is among the English language’s premier phrase-turners. Almost 50 years into a remarkable career that has drawn effusive praise from Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson, Bonnie Raitt, Roger Waters, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen and others who would know, Prine is a smiling, shuffling force for good. He is a Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member and a PEN New England Lyrics Award recipient whose classic debut album, simply titled John Prine, is recognized as part of the Recording Academy’s Grammy Hall of Fame and whose songs have been recorded by Johnny Cash, Carly Simon, Bette Midler, Bonnie Raitt, Norah Jones, George Strait, Miranda Lambert, Zac Brown Band and many others.

Following the 2015 death of his friend and business partner Al Bunetta, Prine is now President and sole owner of Oh Boy Records. He lives in Nashville, TN with his wife, Fiona, and enjoys spending time with their three sons, a daughter-in-law and his grandchildren.

This time last year, Adam Ant was revisiting “Kings of the Wild Frontier” in all its glory, working the stage with a youthful exuberance most entertainers half his age would be advised to envy in black leather pants and dashing pirate garb.

The Anthems Tour that brings the legend back to Arizona is more focused on the singles, offsetting such obvious A-sides as “Dog Eat Dog,” “Antmusic,” “Stand and Deliver” and “Goody Two Shoes” with B-sides and rarities, some of which he says had never made a setlist prior to this tour.

“‘Can’t Set Rules About Love’ is one that I’d never done before,” he says. “Another one is ‘Gotta Be a Sin.’ But we’ve kind of arranged them in a way so that they fit in with the singles that are better known.”

He’s even playing “Young Parisians,” his first release with Adam & the Ants, which turns 40 this year.

Because the tour is based on giving concertgoers something of an overview of Ant’s career, the star agreed to walk us through his history, sharing memories of important milestones on the road to this year’s tour.

“The skin is just a roadmap,” David Byrne sings on “Everybody’s Coming To My House,” the first single off his new album, American Utopia. One can only imagine the long and winding roads marked on Byrne’s body. From serving as Talking Heads’ frontman to becoming an author, filmmaker, label head, solo artist, speaker, and arts advocate, Byrne’s been to places few of us can dream of.

And he’s about to hit the road again.

Byrne is embarking on a world tour to promote American Utopia, which is out March 9 via Todomundo/Nonesuch Records.

He and his 12-piece band are scheduled to perform twice in Arizona: first at Tucson’s Centennial Hall on Sunday, April 15, and then at Mesa Arts Center’s Ikeda Theater on Thursday, April 19.

Fans of Byrne’s Big Suit days can rejoice: In addition to performing new material, Byrne says he’ll play classics from his solo career and from his days with the Talking Heads.

Byrne describes the choreographed concert as “the most ambitious show I’ve done since the shows that were filmed for Stop Making Sense.” Considering that’s one of the greatest concert films ever made, we can only imagine how ambitious and innovative Byrne’s new stage show will be.

More than three years after her last public appearance in Tucson, Linda Ronstadt is coming home in April for an encore to her 2014 “Sunday Evening Forum” conversation.

Tucson native Ronstadt, the multiple Grammy-winning, iconic pop singer with more than 100 million records sold and countless hits on the country, pop, rock and Americana charts, returns to Fox Tucson Theatre for “A Conversation with Linda” on April 29. The event, presented by über Arizona promoter Danny Zelisko, builds on Ronstadt’s 2014 “Forum” event. But in addition to a Q&A with the audience, “Conversation” includes a multimedia, big-screen journey into her musical and personal life .

Ronstadt, 71, is known for being open and in her last “Forum” appearance, she answered every question posed from the nearly 600 people in the Fox theater that Sunday afternoon. Back then she recounted childhood experiences growing up in a musical family in the Tucson home her parents built by hand, and the early days of her musical life, which has few female rivals.

That event came more than a year after she released her self-penned “Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir,” which came out several months after she confirmed publicly in summer 2013 that she had Parkinson’s Disease. By then Ronstadt, who moved to San Francisco in 2005, had stopped performing publicly; her last Tucson concert was in 2007 at the AVA at Casino del Sol.

Organizers said “Conversations” will feature multimedia accouterments including her music, rare videos, photos and behind-the-scenes events that informed and influenced her art. At a sold-out “Conversations” event last year on New York’s Long Island, the Huffington reviewer said the evening “took me by surprise as I didn’t realize how funny Linda is. Linda was so captivating that I forgot to take notes.”

Sure, there are the songs one expects: “Joy to the World,” “White Christmas” and “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” performed as a playful duet with hubby Vince Gill. But then you get something like “Melancholy Christmas,” which is underlined with a sadness that also reflects the season. The lonesome “Another Merry Christmas” includes verses about a woman in a nursing home and a man who has post-traumatic stress. To Grant’s credit, the tune’s mood is more contemplative and reassuring than the gloom and doom suggested.

“I absolutely wanted something that talks about the less-sexy moments of the holiday,” Grant says, calling during a five-hour car ride. “The snot-cry meltdown where the dinner you worked on so hard for your family turned into an argument and everyone’s not speaking to each other: Those things happen to all of us.”

The 1980s was an era where such gender-bending fashion icons as Prince, Annie Lennox, Michael Jackson and Pete Burns, Dead or Alive’s lead singer, were rampant on the Top 40 charts.

No blast from the ‘80s pop past would be complete without the music and the style of George O’Dowd, aka Boy George, who embodied the essence of that era even before he burst upon the international music scene as the lead signer of Culture Club – the 1980s mega-group that has reunited for a world tour that’s heading to Phoenix Aug. 23.

Boy George, who always wore make up and dressed in fashions that were flashy and feminine, rose from the London nightclub scene and reflected the cultural New Wave that swept through England, the United States and the music charts.

Often associated with the second British Wave in music, Culture Club, which formed in 1981, capitalized on their strong signature look and monopolized the new cable network called MTV.

Boy George’s presence and influence was everywhere. He even made the cover ofCosmopolitan, a women’s magazine. When asked in an interview by The Huffington Post whether he associated more to being male or female, he answered, “I wanted to kind of look like a woman. And I did for a while – and then I got hairy!”

In an infamous moment of Grammy history, Joan Rivers was on hand when Culture Club won the 1983 Best New Artist award. In a live telecast from London, Boy George remarked “Thank you, America. You’ve got taste, style and know a good drag queen when you see one.”

Yet, Culture Club’s impact extended far beyond Boy George’s flamboyant persona and tabloid headlines. Along with Boy George, Culture Club’s original lineup included Mikey Craig (bass), Roy Hay (guitar, keyboards) and Jon Moss (drums and percussion). The group achieved stunning success, scoring three Top Ten U.S. hits from their debut album, Kissing to Be Clever, and becoming the first group to hit that milestone since the Beatles. They sold more than 50 million records with ten singles that reached the Top 40. “Time (Clock of the Heart)” is included on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s list of 500 songs that shaped rock and roll.

In his article “Rock: British Culture Club,” Stephen Holden, music critic for The New York Times, said “Culture Club blends soul, rock, funk, reggae and salsa into a music that programmatically reconciles white, black and Latin styles.” He added that, “Mr. O’Dowd made the group’s best songs – the Motown-flavored ‘Do You Really Want to Hurt Me’ and the Latin-inflected dance tune ‘I’ll Tumble 4 Ya’ – shine like jewels.”

The aim of Culture Club’s music, as described by Boy George, is “to be creatively fluid to make everything we do a little different. We want to be a bridge between white rock and black soul,” he said, adding that he wants “Culture Club to represent all peoples and minorities.”

Despite group’s commercial success, significant pressures within the band led to its’ break-up. Boy George’s drug addiction and the end of George’s and drummer Jon Moss’ four-year relationship took its toll. The group split after their 1986 album, From Luxury to Heartache, amidst growing tensions in the band.

Flash forward to 2016 and all four original members have rejoined forces for the reunion tour.

On Thursday June 16th, Joe Jackson kicked off his summer 2016 tour by performing to a sold out show at the Scottsdale Center For The Performing Arts. This tour is promoting his latest studio album, Fast Forward. Joe explained that the Fast Forward album is a combination of 4 sessions that he did in New York, Berlin, Amsterdam and New Orleans. Originally, he wanted to release each session as a separate LP, but instead was convinced to combine them into a single album. Joe and the band came into town a couple of days early so they could rehearse for the tour. Joe said that unlike a lot of other bands, they don’t like to play the same set each night, but like to change up the nightly set to keep things fresh. Joe and the band played a combination of new Fast Forward songs and older hits during their 2 hour show.

The show started with Joe doing a solo set of 6 songs on his Roland RD800 piano. The second song, Home Town was about revisiting his childhood home town of Portsmouth, England. His longtime bassist, Graham Maby joined Joe on the 1979 hit song, Is She Really Going Out With Him. During the next song, Real Men, Joe and Graham were joined by Doug Yowell on drums and Teddy Kumpel on guitar. Joe explained during the show that Kings of the City is about kids from a small town moving to a big city and discovering what is different and what is lost. Later they played Scary Monsters, a cover of a David Bowie song. After Sunday Papers, they did Keep On Dreaming and Ode to Joy, from the New Orleans Fast Forward session. They complete the main set with Joe’s top 20 hit, Steppin Out.

After a few minutes, Joe and the band came back and played a 3 song encore. During the last song, Slow Song, each of the band member slowly bowed and left the stage, with Joe being the last as his piano completed the song.

Review and Photos by Fred Kuhlman. Read more & find out Joe Jackon’s set list over at Beneath A Desert Sky!

3 Doors Down came to Talking Stick Resort on Friday June 10th, promoting their newest album, Us And The Night. Originally, the show was scheduled to be outside at the resort’s pool, but due to the possible extreme heat and afternoon storms, it was moved inside to the Grand Ballroom. Brad Arnold, 3 Doors Down’s front man, even made a comment during the show about how hot it was getting off the bus.

3 Doors Down was formed in 1994 in Mississippi as a 3 member band, but Brad Arnold is the only original member remaining. In 2000 they released their multi-platinum album, The Better Life that featured a number of singles including their first big hit, Kryptonight. The current band member are: Brad Arnold (Lead Vocals), Chris Henderson (Lead and Rhythm Guitar), Greg Upchurch (Drums), Chet Roberts (Lead and Rhythm Guitar) and Justin Biltonen (Bass).

The show started when Greg started a drum sequence and then the rest of the band joined him on stage. They started with Danko, It’s Not My Time, and Citizen Soldier. The band looked like they were having fun and interacted with the crowd. The crowd responded and were on their feet during the entire show singing and dancing along with the music. When the band got to Be Like That, the crowd really started singing along to a point that Brad turned the mic toward the crowd. Chet and Chris were constantly going to the front of the stage and jamming to the crowd. Justin was all over the stage laying down the bass track. It was nice seeing a show where the crowd was having fun and really into the music instead of just sitting and listening. The band finished their main set with Kryptonight. After a couple of minutes they came back for a 3 song encore.

On Friday May 20th, Danny Zelisko Presents brought two Phoenix favorites back to town at the Scottsdale Center for the Arts. It was the long awaited return of Shawn Phillips with special guest and local artist Roger Clyne. The show started with Roger Clyne for about 45 minutes. After a stage change, Shawn Phillips played for 2 hours. It was an evening of two different styles of rock music. Roger and his band played a very upbeat and energetic flavor of rock, while Shawn did a laid-back solo performance.

ROGER CLYNE

Somehow over the past 20 years I have never seen Roger Clyne and his bands. Boy was I surprised and happy. I love basic rock music (love classic rock) and Roger did not disappoint. He has an early Eagles quality and style to his music, with a dash of Southern Arizona/Mexican flavor in his sound and lyrics. The band’s style has been described as, “cross genres with songs showing an Adult Alternative Rock/Pop/Americana/Reggae/Mariachi influence”, but Roger simply states they are a “Bar Band.” Normally Roger has the entire band, “Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers (RCPM)”, but tonight they had a very simple lineup of Roger Clyne doing vocals and playing acoustic guitar, Thomas Laufenberg on electric guitar and P.H. Naffah on drums. Two of my favorite songs from the night were California Breakdown and Heaven on a Paper Plate. This is one of those bands that you need to see live to really appreciate. Roger had energy and passion and Thomas was outstanding on lead electric guitar. If you get a chance to see RCPM, please go – I personally cannot wait to see them again.

I grew up in the 60’s and my music listening started with Motown and folk rock. I listened to CSN, Donovan, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Mamas and Papas. In the later 60’s and 70’s I moved to more heavy rock with the Stones, Deep Purple, The Who, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. But I still have a deep love of folk rock as my guilty pleasure. In the 70’s, I moved to Phoenix and I was lucky enough to go to a lot of concerts when tickets were only $5. At the time, the Celebrity Theatre was the premier venue for small concerts. This is where I saw Shawn for the first time. I had no idea who he was or his style of music, but the ticket was cheap and I had a friend going. Having zero musical ability, I really appreciate people that are blessed with it. Shawn is one of those rare people that can both write and play beautifully complex music. I loved his style of folk rock music and over the 70’s I saw him at least five times. His Rumplestiltskin’s Resolve concert was one of my favorites.

Somehow I lost track of Shawn after the 70’s. When I saw that he was coming back, I had to go to see if the magic was still there. I was concerned when I saw he was doing a solo performance, since in the past he always had a band with him. I did not know if he would be able to play all of his music or was only going to do an acoustic version of his songs. The stage was setup with a chair and 8 guitars, 1 bass, 1 acoustic and 6 electric guitars. When he first started to play, I assumed he was using a backing track to provide the percussion and other guitar tracks. I later learned that only the percussion section was a backing track. All of the guitar notes were done by Shawn in real time. According to Shawn, “That includes the brass at the end of the first song and the orchestral string section in the 3rd song of the 3 ballads I sang in sequence. This was the midi guitar going through a Roland GR 20.” There were sometimes 3 or 4 layers of guitar sequences in each song and Shawn played them all. The real trick was he needed to loop and sequence them together to make the music sound great. After understanding what he did, I was even more impressed by the musical ability and engineering that went into the show. Two of my favorite songs were Everything She Gives Me and the 3 song ballad, L Ballade / Ascent / Motes of Dust. Shawn is in the process of creating a new album which should be out this year. If you like folk rock music then I believe you will enjoy this show.

Progressive rock band Dream Theater played an exciting show on Thursday, May 5th at the Mesa Arts Center, and our Art Director Mike Mertes was there to take photos of the momentous show.

The band played its double LP concept album, “The Astonishing,” from start to finish. The band started playing at 7:30 p.m. and finished a little bit after 10:15 p.m., with only a short break around nine, Mertes said.

One of the highlights of the show was John Petrucci’s piercing guitar solos before the band’s brief break, Mertes said. Throughout the entire show, lead vocalist James LaBrie showed off his amazing talent by expertly belting and whispering out each lyric.

Mertes said the show was visually stunning, and pleasing throughout the entire show, and that it was one of the best he has been too.

The track list from “The Astonishing” included:

Act 1
Descent of the NOMACS
Dystopian Overture
The Gift of Music
The Answer
A Better Life
Lord Nafaryus
A Savior in the Square
When Your Time Has Come
Act of Faythe
Three Days
The Hovering Sojourn
Brother, Can You Hear Me?
A Life Left Behind
Ravenskill
Chosen
A Tempting Offer
Digital Discord
The X Aspect
A New Beginning
The Road to Revolution

Act 2
2285 Entr’acte
Moment of Betrayal
Heaven’s Cove
Begin Again
The Path That Divides
Machine Chatter
The Walking Shadow
My Last Farewell
Losing Faythe
Whispers on the Wind
Hymn of a Thousand Voices
Our New World